When I clicked the link, it seems to have disappeared
http://www.sla.ny.gov/system/files/2015_-_draft_Advisory-Private-Collection-Advisory.pdf
I assume it is a good thing, but fear it has gone into hiding, and will appear again.
https://www.sla.ny.gov/system/files/2015-x_draft_Advisory_-_Private_Collection_Advisory.pdf
PROPOSED ADVISORY ON PURCHASE AND SALE OF PRIVATE COLLECTION WINE AND SPIRITS, TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE SLA BOARD AT ITS JANUARY 19, 2016 MEETING
The Members of the Authority will consider the draft Advisory on Proper Purchase and Sale of Private Collection Wines and Liquors at the January 19, 2016 Full Board meeting. Written comments must be forwarded on or before January 14, 2016 to: Secretary’s Office, State Liquor Authority, 80 South Swan Street, Suite 900, Albany, NY 12210, or via electronic mail to Secretarys.Office@sla.ny.gov.
Consideration of the draft Advisory has been rescheduled from the Full Board meeting of December 1, 2015, in order to afford interested parties time to provide written submissions.
I’m coming back and talking to you.
Go to Racines, Pearl and Ash, Rebelle, Rouge Tomate (when they reopen). I’m sure others I’m just not aware of.
I’m not sure why some people on this thread assume this only affects first growth Bordeaux or the equivalent, assume every bottle is marked up to ridiculous levels, and that the only people who consign wine are wealthy.
I happen to know that this is not true. And I am ecstatic that it’s possible to buy (for example) 2004 Briords Muscadet off a list at a reasonable price.
Or for that matter why the wealth of a consignor should make any difference for whether a bad policy pushed by distributors to try and extend their monopoly should be opposed.
Howard’s and others’ comments like it baffle me. As a wine lover, I’d think you’d want unfettered access among those that also love wines and want to share them. The idea that someone would need explaining why this is a bad thing is…dense, to say the least. And as someone with a cellar full of wine, I appreciate the current paradigm where I’m able to transfer wines to restaurants and retailers that I like so that they can then sell them to their customers.
Without any hyperbole, NYC is by far the best city to enjoy special wines at both retailers and restaurants. The depth and breadth is unparalleled. And this part of the law certainly enables a part of that.
To say nothing of the fact that this new definition is both arbitrary and inherently anti competitive and meant to serve those in monopoly positions in the state liquor trade. There are easier and more intelligent ways to revise or update the law to ensure compliance, public interest, and of course tax revenues.
Spot on. I truly don’t understand the “who cares” attitude. It’s really not about people not being able to unload Screaming Eagle and SQN. As Jay said, it’s nice to be able to find older Muscadet on a wine list at a reasonable price. Aged CDP, Riesling, Vouvray, Morgon, Bandol and things of that ilk, too, which generally don’t carry cult cab markups.
sorry im not interested in paying $90 for a bottle of foillard with 5 years on it.
TBF the markups on those wines are generally just as high in percentage, and when they’re not, the sub (restaurant) market pricing is generally provided as a loss leader to draw attention to a newly-opened restaurant and are quickly picked over by the ravenous hoards. I guess no longer will there be 3 weeks of a feeding frenzy when a place like Rebelle opens.
Obviously all of us knowledgeable folk benefit from the cherries on wine lists that will be eliminated by this, so sure, I’m opposed, but this will have de minimis impact on fine dining in NYC generally. There is plenty of good, widely distributed wine out there that compliments food, even if it doesn’t have hipster cache, the need to whisper a secret code to be able to order it and 4 years of age to make it ostensibly special.
that being said, the CA version is this…
§ 23104.6. “Vintage wine” acquired from
private collection
(a) Any nonlicensed person owning bottled vintage
wine purchased by that person at retail, is
authorized to sell that wine to a licensee authorized
to sell that wine if each bottle has a permanently
affixed label stating that the wine was
acquired from a private collection.
(b) “Vintage wine,” as used in this section,
means bottled white, rose, or sparkling wine
which is not less than five years old or bottled red
wine which is not less than 10 years old.
Added Stats 1985 ch 421 § 1
I don’t see anything that explains how “old” something is, however.
This +1000000.
Agree, this is a really bad idea (even if it only impacts a few people, which somehow I doubt).
Is there a way to get Berserkers to express their opposition (even in they’re not NY residents)? A petition maybe? [paging counselor Hack, paging counselor Hack]
+1
Let us look at the alternatives to being able to buy from collectors.
- The wines go through a middleman who in turn mark up, and that mark up is tripled, making the wines even less affordable.
- The wines go to auction, and well over half will go abroad or to other states, which means no taxes, and no chance that the wine will ever be available again.
- The alternative to old wines being marked up three times is new wines being marked up three times. Can’t see that as very exciting.
- The whole wine trade is heavily regulated. Mark ups are built in, and the bottle you buy in a store is a multiple of what it should be, because the distribution lobby spends a fortune making sure that they are the only real sellers of wine. So long as our legislators can be bought, you cannot legally sell a bottle to your best mate. I can’t see any of this makes any sense.
- Like many of the people here, I tend to BYO, mainly because I like older wine. Few restaurants have the money to buy on release and then store the wines. In fact, unless they specialize in wine, it is a ridiculous use of capital. A piece of meat will turn over hopefully within a few days, a bottle of wine may need a decade. So restaurants rely on collectors who sell either directly or indirectly through auction. And…auction houses mark up, so the wines will be 20-25% more than they would be if purchased privately.
Overall, can’t see what this “clarification” achieves except that the wine wholesalers have found another way to screw the consumers, and our politicians have found another way to give their contributors value for money.